Brightline now will be called Virgin Trains USA: Here’s what to expect next.

One year after the Brightline commuter rail line unveiled its downtown MiamiCentral station amid music, politicians’ speeches and related fanfare, an Unveiling 2.0 is scheduled Thursday as the company formally rebrands itself as Virgin Trains USA.

This time, British billionaire and Virgin Group founder Richard Branson will be the focus of attention, and MiamiCentral will be rechristened “Virgin MiamiCentral.”

Branson, who last year launched an adults-only cruise line called Virgin Voyages based in Plantation, has vowed to “shake up the cruise industry” with trips that will start sailing out of PortMiami starting in 2020. And he appears intent on doing the same to the moribund passenger rail industry, which long ago was eclipsed by cars and commercial aviation.

His scheduled appearance in Miami on Thursday comes at a significant juncture for the rail line, which is seeking to raise $1.5 billion in bond funding to build an extension to Orlando.

Here’s a look at how a network of Virgin Trains USA, coupled with the Tri-Rail service, could offer the public more transit options in the coming years.

Picking the right time

Boosting the number of transit options comes at a time when commuters are pining for alternatives to roads that are choked by cars on South Florida streets and highways.

It so happens that transportation-industry shakeups are a Branson trademark: When his Virgin Atlantic Airways opened its Miami-London route in 1986, the company regaled passengers with onboard entertainment that went unmatched by the more formal British Airways.

At Virgin Voyages’ headquarters opening last year, visitors were greeted by thumping music, splashes of the Virgin brand’s familiar red, purple and silver colors, and replicas of red phone booths from the United Kingdom. And Branson’s Virgin Galactic is preparing to take tourists into outer space.

Branson is joining the South Florida rail fray with plans to help shore up transit options. The Brightline trains that now

serve the downtown areas of Miami, Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach would extend to Orlando, Tampa and even Disney World, according to company announcements.

The Thursday fanfare in Miami, a Virgin Trains spokesman said, will “mark the first significant moment” of the business partnership between Brightline and Virgin Trains as management showcases new commercial visuals of the rebranding and a preview of Central Fare, a collection of restaurants and bars.

Linking to big transit hubs

Virgin Trains envisions stations on the east side of Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, and at PortMiami, where Branson’s cruise operation would operate.

Virgin Trains’ chief commercial officer Ravneet Bhandari has reportedly called the Fort Lauderdale airport “a very logical station site for us” because one of the rail corridors “is inside the airport fence and, in fact, our tracks run directly under the runway.”

He has said the rail company is in “active negotiations” to build a station, but didn’t say with whom, according to FlightGlobal.com, an aviation website.

Broward Aviation Department spokesman Greg Meyer said the department has not had any recent discussions with the train company, although the subject of a station was raised two years ago.

Teaming up

Tri-Rail, the long-running commuter rail service, has different ownership than Virgin Trains. But they soon will be joined at the hip in Miami, because Tri-Rail hopes to open a line to the MiamiCentral station this year. And over time, they’ll have a presence along the same Florida East Coast Railway line now served by Virgin Trains.

While Virgin Trains serves workday commuters from West Palm Beach, Fort Lauderdale and Miami, its objective is more regional in scope. Tri-Rail’s main mission is to serve to commuters who need to get from one South Florida city to another each day.

Virgin Trains are “more tourist-oriented, which is why Orlando is key to their success,” said Steven Abrams, executive director of the South Florida Regional Transportation Authority, which operates TriRail. “We’ve been able to work very cooperatively together because we serve two different markets.”

Heading up Florida’s east coast

Brightline officials said last fall they are working with city managers from Fort Pierce, Sebastian, Stuart and Vero Beach to identify possible station sites on the Treasure Coast.

And there’s excitement about the rail service reaching Orlando.

“They have a potential to serve as a model to the rest of the nation on developing express intercity rail,” said Gary Huttman, MetroPlan Orlando’s executive director, according to the News Service of Florida. “We’re especially interested in Brightline’s potential to connect Central Florida to Miami and its potential to connect our SunRail passenger system to the Orlando International Airport.”

Virgin Trains may even one day serve a station at the Orlando airport’s south terminal, which is under construction.

Expanding Tri-Rail

For years, Tri-Rail has served commuters on a rail line that runs along the west side of I-95, all the way from Mangonia Park to Miami International Airport. Now, Tri-Rail is fairly close to offering passengers a way to go directly to downtown Miami, said Abrams.

“That’s far along,” he said. “That’s a real thing.”

Dubbed the Tri-Rail Downtown Link, Tri-Rail trains would cut across MiamiDade County from its existing line and deposit passengers at Virgin MiamiCentral.

Abrams said a number of technical issues must be resolved before the service can start, such as scheduling and the installation of “positive train control,” a federally required safety technology designed to stop certain types of accidents.

“The [station] platform itself is pretty much complete and looks good,” he said. “That will constitute the first station of Tri-Rail Coastal Link.”

The next step would be to work with Virgin Trains to expand service northward through Miami-Dade County, he said.

There is no timetable for running TriRail north along the Florida East Coast line into Broward and Palm Beach counties. But he said a northern east-west crossover line in West Palm Beach is under construction and nearing completion. “This will be a very big asset with those coastal communities,” Abrams said. “There is a lot of willingness to work with us.”